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Desktop virtualisation offers a novel way for businesses to reduce costs, boost efficiency, and even improve network security. It’s little wonder then that the technology has been greeted with widespread enthusiasm. Thirty-six and half percent of businesses surveyed by Evolve IP at the beginning of this year had already implemented a virtual desktop system, and 97.5 percent of them said they were highly satisfied with it. Moreover, one in three plan to implement a virtual desktop as a service solution over the next three years. Clearly, desktop virtualisation is taking the business world by storm—so what is a virtual desktop and is it the right solution for you?

One computer, thousands of monitorsDesktop virtualisation allows you to connect physical desktops with a remotely hosted operating system (and its applications), regardless of how old or new the receiving desktop is. In other words, a single server provides the computing power for your virtual environment—all your employees need is a screen.

Cut costs and gain speedOne of the chief benefits of virtual desktops is that they save you from spending money on expensive physical desktops. Instead, you can invest in one server and use it to make your business’s computer environment available on multiple inexpensive desktops. There’s no loss of performance capability if you do this. In fact, since you only have to manage one system (on your server), it’s often quicker and smoother.

Secure mobilityLarge companies can take advantage of virtual desktops to provide employees with greater flexibility. For example, Suncorp Group is Australia’s largest general insurer and fifth largest bank. It now uses desktop virtualisation to give its employees the freedom to move around the office, work from home, and even access their desktops from the field.

According to Gartner, this approach is also more secure because each virtual desktop is remotely managed to ensure it meets compliance standards. As a result, employees needn’t worry about installing software, backing up files, or scanning for viruses. Moreover, when employees view data, it isn’t transferred to their personal device, but remains in a secure, centralised location.

Traveling lightVirtual desktops free mobile employees from lugging around expensive high-performance machines with disk drives, huge storage capacity, and their pesky need for routine hardware updates. A light laptop with a screen, a keyboard, and an Internet connection is all they need. And if a device ever crashes while running a virtual desktop, it’s immediately isolated—everybody else in the network can carry on helping your business achieve success.

Virtually perfectThere are few obvious disadvantages to implementing desktop virtualisation. We can even expect that the technology’s increasing popularity will lead to new ways of improving and creatively employing it. In other words, desktop virtualisation is only going to get better.

Why Choose Precision Cloud and Citrix based Virtual DesktopsVirtual Desktops helps solve today’s top IT and business challenges.

Boost productivity with anywhere accessPrecision Cloud empowers employees by enabling them to work anywhere, making today’s workforce completely mobile and more productive – bringing thousands of corporate desktops and applications to personal laptops, tablets and smartphones with a high performance experience.

Protect sensitive informationVirtual desktops and apps are centrally maintained in Precision IT’s Australian Datacentres, which reduces the risk of data loss or intrusion when delivered to any device. Access remains secure while intellectual property and sensitive private information stays safe.

Bring your own deviceVirtual Desktop lets employees securely access IT-issued apps and desktops straight from their personal devices. This gives them the freedom to use the latest and greatest technology without requiring IT to support new hardware.

Cost efficient app and desktop managementUsing Precision Cloud, public or private, to securely deliver virtual desktops and reduce application management costs by as much as 90%. We can deploy desktop image updates with a near 100% success rate through simple, centralized management and on-demand delivery of standard images.

Easy-to-use interfaceCitrix Receiver enables employees to easily and securely access applications, desktops and data from any device. Working with your Virtual Desktop installation, Receiver provides the mobility, convenience and freedom employees want so they can work from anywhere.